Genetic Engineering: Questions of Ethics and Effectiveness

Unlike in the US and Asia, where the acreage under GM crops was increasing rapidly, the pace was much slower in the EU. As of 2006, only a few countries in the EU produced GM crops. In Spain, GM maize was produced in only around 60,000 hectares of land.

In Portugal, Germany, France and the Czech Republic, GM crops were grown on a much smaller scale than in the US. Moreover, EU legislation too was not as supportive of GM foods as that of the US. The EU had rules to avoid uncontrolled mixing of GM and conventional maize. It also required manufacturers to label food and feed made from GM maize.

The fact that only a small fraction of the GM maize grown in the EU was directly used for producing food such as cornflakes, popcorn, canned sweet corn, or corn oil, indicated the acceptance levels for GM foods in Europe.

In mid-2007, the EU planned to lift the ban on commercial growing of GM crops. Farmers were expected to be allowed to grow GM potatoes and some other varieties of GM maize. However, the potatoes were to be used solely for industrial purposes such as making paper. Meanwhile in the US, as the GM varieties of soy, maize and cotton became widely accepted, the proportion of GM plants in total agricultural production increased (Refer Exhibit VII for cultivation of GM plants in US in 2007)...